Life Science Leader on TransCelerate’s Efforts to Modernize Drug Development

Life Science Leader’s Rob Wright has a great profile on TransCelerate BioPharma and their efforts to modernize the drug development and clinical trial landscape. TransCelerate is a nonprofit organization made up of 18 innovate biopharmaceutical companies dedicated to collaborating across the industry to find ways to simplify and accelerate the discovery of new medicines.

As the article notes, the challenge involved is enormous:

With combined annual revenues in excess of $300 billion and nearly 800,000 employees worldwide, the prospect of TransCelerate being successful must be similar to imagining the United States and the former Soviet Union actually collaborating to put a man on the moon during the height of the Cold War. And yet, having only been in existence a little over a year, TransCelerate is transforming the drug development terrain faster than many thought possible. Dr. Gill, a 25-year drug development veteran, reveals the biggest roadblock to TransCelerate’s success and how it was overcome. In addition, he explains the important role organizational structure plays in driving results, as well as the science behind the initiative selection process.

TransCelerate CEO Dalvir Gill spoke with LSL about his decision to join the project:

“When I first heard about the TransCelerate opportunity, it was a scary proposition,” recalls Gill. Skeptical about if it would actually work, he began gathering insight into the organization’s mission and leadership commitment. As he did, the former president of Phase 2 to 4 drug development at PharmaNet-i3 (now known as inVentiv Health) began to believe that it could not only work, but it had to work. “The drug development industry was running out of options. We had to find a way to collaborate to remove drug development inefficiencies,” Gill affirms. Reflecting on his decision to “seize” the TransCelerate opportunity, he says, “I took on this position, and I have not regretted it for one day. How often does a person encounter an opportunity in their career where taking a slightly different, perhaps riskier, path can have such massive implications on bringing more medicines to people?”